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A fast and portable microspectrophotometer for protein crystallography
Author(s) -
Hadfield A.,
Hajdu J.
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
journal of applied crystallography
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.429
H-Index - 162
ISSN - 1600-5767
DOI - 10.1107/s0021889893005552
Subject(s) - monochromator , photodiode , optics , detector , spectral line , crystal (programming language) , protein crystallization , materials science , goniometer , physics , computer science , crystallization , wavelength , astronomy , programming language , thermodynamics
Spectroscopic measurements on crystals during X‐ray data collection provide additional information on the composition of the crystal and can be used in the interpretation of structural data. This paper describes a portable microspectrophotometer to obtain UV–visible–near‐IR spectra from single crystals during X‐ray measurements. The instrument consists of a deuterium lamp, optical fibres, a pair of mirror lenses and a monochromator equipped with a photodiode array detector. Spectra can be recorded in short periods of time (a few milliseconds) from a measurement area of 0.10 mm diameter or smaller. The device can be used to monitor spectral changes in crystals during time‐resolved X‐ray experiments so that the X‐ray camera can be triggered at the right moment as determined by the spectrum, thereby eliminating much of the present guesswork from such studies.